A Media-Art Employing Virtual Shadows with Shape Recognition

This paper proposes an interactive computer system which creates ´virtual shadows´. Usually, color of a shadow is black, and a shadow has almost the same shape and motion as its owner. If the shadow is colorful, and it has motion different from the owner, it may give us surprise and even fantastic impression. The developed system realizes such phenomena by using the technique of computer vision. A virtual shadow is created by using the geometrical relation of a camera and a projector. The developed system performs image recognition. The shape of a person´s shadow is recognized, and it is given various effects based on the recognition result. By use of the proposed technique, application to space design, entertainment, and advertising medium is expected.